Finance chief: Japan's fiscal health worsening on unprecedented scale

The government will aim for economic revitalization before fiscal reconstruction, he told lawmakers on the first day of a regular Diet session.

so keep spending., “fiscal health worsening on an unprecedented scale’ but fiscal reconstruction not urgent.?

The finance minister called for the swift passage of a record 114.38 trillion yen budget for fiscal 2023 obviously fiscal responsibility not necessary.

criticism for making a hasty decision to try and generate revenue from tax hikes to fund part of Japan's substantial increase in defense spending over the coming years.

but they cut tax for the wealthy and increase taxes for the 60% of part time workers, many of whom can’t afford to turn on their ACs. Third largest economy is not what it seems.

Oh dear ... you mean Abenomics didn't fix everything?

The Japanese government is debt-ridden but it’s a debt the government doesn’t have to pay back. A sovereign state that issues its own currency can never run out of money. The MOF bureaucrats are taking advantage of the general public’s ignorance.

The government will aim for economic revitalization before fiscal reconstruction, he told lawmakers on the first day of a regular Diet session

This has been done for decades.

Beyond that, record defense spending expected from taxes.

The Finance Minister seems to be talking out of multiple mouths. He appears to be chastising the BOJ chair and it's tight money policy while at the same time cheerleading for massive increased spending on domestic programs and the military while at the same time suggesting that foreign governments and financial institutions should continue to have faith in the Japanese economy.

Perhaps Mr. Suzuki needs a refresh on Macroeconomics 101.

None of the symptoms of bad "fiscal health" are present. Sky-rocketing inflation and interest rates, bond default? Angry creditors. Hello?

Japan spends its own money, which it "borrows" almost entirely from itself.

In other news, japan is the biggest owner of US debt and remains the world's largest creditor nation. Forest for the trees much?.

It's the job of the Government to be sure this kind of thing does not happen.

It's all your fault, not the fault of the citizens.

You!

The finance minister has been the recipient of a fat salary on the back of the tax payers in Japan for many decades and at 70 years of age is still going strong.

Along with his relative, Taro Aso, Suzuki has been responsible for Japan’s fiscal health going to pot!

These politicians are part of the problem not part of the solution…

Reduce the number of Diet members, reduce their pay and perks, begin taxing all religious organizations , and stop overseas junkets. Howz that for starters?

No, of course there’s plenty of health or let’s translate it into financial wealth, but there’s of course a severe distribution problem. The tons of BOJ printed money have gone into a very few hands only. Those are very healthy while the big rest is now not anymore. Or did I miss the news, that the ultra riches have burnt all their money they’ve received over decades? I guess, they still have all of it and currently don’t even need all of it, because it’s not even invested into new innovations or products. But maybe I have missed those news too. It’s very clear, there’s no problem to pamper the riches with more and more money, but in return they have to use it, not only for themselves, but for the society who gave it to them, investing into own companies and employees, other start-ups, innovations, research, new products and their sales inbound and globally. That’s the duty for them what they have to do with the much money, not more, but of course also not less.

It's the job of the Government to be sure this kind of thing does not happen.

What has actually "happened"?

you wont teach new dance to old folks.

its about time to replace all of these LDP dinosaurs and held them personally responsible for all of this misery caused.

Yes, debt and fiscal responsibility does matter. People need to wake up to the alarming deterioration of economy and country as a whole. Waiting and hoping for the best is not a solution.

 People need to wake up to the alarming deterioration of economy and country as a whole.

Thats what happens under austerity, not thru govt spending. Japan's problem is that employers have been refusing to pay workers in line with their huge profit growth and either hoarding the the cash or giving it to shareholders and share buybacks, rather than distribut it throughout the economy.

The govt spends, because the private sector hoards.

You mean the giant ponzi schemes of pensions/social security/massively bloated and subsidized healthcare is close to collapse? Well who could've guessed!

Russian war in Ukraine? Why not NATO’s encroachments on Russian borders? Or, US/EU’s sanctions on Russia’s energy fuels?

In other news, japan is the biggest owner of US debt and remains the world's largest creditor nation. Forest for the trees much?.

As suggested here, if Japan collapses as fantasized by some, it will take the global economic status quo down with it. Maybe if you have the right physical assets, you'll be okay, but lots of paper assets will crash along with it. Due to Japan's huge holding of US Treasuries, the USD will absolutely tank, meaning the end to US global preeminence. You can't have military bases around the world without folks paying for them.

The winners will be Russia, China, India, Brazil, etc. Not someone laughing at Japan and holding their money in the Nasdaq or S&P.

... if Japan collapses as fantasized by some..., 

It would be a grand fantasy, indeed. Japan would have to run out of yen (as nearly all its obligations are denominated in yen), a currency it prints at will.

@JeffLee What huge profit growth is that? The base cause is low productivity and Japan Inc's refusal to adopt modern productive structures and policies. A nice dash of entrepreneurialism would help a bunch too.

Why are all these old fools, suddenly telling us things we have all known for decades?

did they finally wake up from the meetings or something?

The government wasted too much money on mRNA boosters that weren't effective. Total malinvestment. This is what I have been saying - that all the Covid era money printing would cripple the economy. Finally, they are seeing the writing on the wall regarding this.

What they need to do is make the economy more dynamic. Provide more incentives for foreign companies and workers to come to Japan.

Time to temporarily ease all immigration rules in Japan, even those that existed before Covid. Some countries implement moratoriums on immigration from time to time; Japan needs a moratorium on immigration rules. The current process is incredibly convoluted and unwieldy. Bring in as much foreign talent as possible - entrepreneurs, investors, engineers, developers, scientists. And actually pay them. Even if they don't speak a word of Japanese. Japan is globalized enough already that it would be manageable. Maybe in some cases, Japan needs to compromise and be more willing to grant dual citizenship, or at the least, much easier permanent residency rights. And finally, as a sea-locked island, this factor alone is already enough to ward off most undesirable groups.

Also - there are probably at least several million Chinese that would give up a limb or two to flee the CCP and live/work in Japan, especially after Covid. They will learn the language relatively quickly/easily, work, pay taxes, and within three generations, be completely assimilated. As a special limited time program, why not let a small amount of them in, like only one million? I mean what is the argument against this? That from time to time some of them are rude and make the snobby residents of Kyoto extremely uncomfortable? Give me a break.

Eventually, a choice needs to be made. Will Japan retain 100% cultural purity while nosediving economically, or compromise, even if just a little, to secure a more stable path forward? The latter is clearly the better option.

The government wasted too much money on mRNA boosters that weren't effective. Total malinvestment.

How much did they "waste", and what percentage of the deficit did it create?

Finally, they are seeing the writing on the wall regarding this.

Are yo sure?

Finance chief: Japan's fiscal health worsening on unprecedented scale

You mean fiscal cancer?

wolfshineToday 01:02 pm JST: A really salient, on-topic and well-focused posting...

@deanza

@@JeffLee What huge profit growth is that?

"Japan corporate pretax profits hit July-Sept. record, capex up 9.8%"

https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20221201/p2g/00m/0bu/026000c

... if Japan collapses as fantasized by some..., 

Japan would have to run out of yen (as nearly all its obligations are denominated in yen), a currency it prints at will.

Of course, that printing at will was tried and tested in the Weimar Republic, and elsewhere.

The government wasted too much money on mRNA boosters that weren't effective. Total malinvestment.

How much did they "waste", and what percentage of the deficit did it create?

Based on the non-response, I suspect the poster either made it up that the government wasted "too much money on mRNA boosters", or they looked it up, and realized it was like 0.0000000000000000000000000000000001% of the economy.

The Japanese government is debt-ridden but it’s a debt the government doesn’t have to pay back. A sovereign state that issues its own currency can never run out of money. The MOF bureaucrats are taking advantage of the general public’s ignorance.

Hyperinflation is the consequence of monetizing your debt endlessly. The reason why Japan doesn't go under is that Yen and BoJ are intrinsically tied with the FED.

If Yen goes down, the USD goes down as well.

Based on the non-response, I suspect the poster either made it up that the government wasted "too much money on mRNA boosters", or they looked it up, and realized it was like 0.0000000000000000000000000000000001% of the economy.

That's a faulty metric. The Japanese government budget is 114 trillion yen in 2023. As of Nov 22nd last year, the government had spent up to 17 trillion yen on mRNA vaccinations. That means that approximately 15% of Japan's total budget is spent on Covid if we're only talking about the vaccine side of it, but the real financial and social cost has/will have been much greater. We're talking about record debt that the (declining) young population will have to bear in the future.

wolfshineJan. 24  01:02 pm JST

The government wasted too much money on mRNA boosters that weren't effective. Total malinvestment. This is what I have been saying - that all the Covid era money printing would cripple the economy. Finally, they are seeing the writing on the wall regarding this.

All good ideas in that post.